Gympass is a corporate wellness service provider which offers its users an extensive range of premium gyms, health clubs, wellbeing applications, and group exercise classes taught by experienced instructors. It currently has millions of registered members from across the globe including major corporations such as Accenture, P&G, Unilever, etc.
You can probably guess by now that Gympass makes its money from affiliate marketing. But just how does it do it? Let’s take a look at their business model.
Gympass makes a profit by charging an employer a fee for using its platform. This enables them to offer discounts to gyms and health providers on their platform.
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What is Gympass?
Gympass is a global wellness benefits provider. It enables employers to offer their employees unlimited gym memberships at any of its partner locations worldwide.
Gympass isn’t just another corporate health program. It’s a worldwide health program, allowing members to take part in physical and mental well-being every day.
Gympass gets most of its revenues from offering a prepaid membership as part of a company’s employee benefits package.
Founded in 2012 by Brazilian entrepreneurs, Gympass is based out of São Paulo, Brazil, and has offices in LA, SF, CHI, ATL, and other major cities.
The fitness-oriented startup achieved unicorn status in 2019 after raising $300 million in strategic financing.
On June 21st, 2020, the company announced that it had secured $200 million in new financing. They were able to raise this round because of their recent success in raising funds.
Value Proposition
If there aren’t enough gyms for everyone, then we need to provide them.
That’s why Gympass offers its service at no cost to employers who want to offer employees incentives to exercise.
- Gympass is an online service for gyms in over 1,200 cities worldwide. You can use it to get discounts at partner gyms and other services.
- The platform aims to improve the health and well-being of people by providing them with available and accessible fitness opportunities.
- It provides subscription services as an employee benefits program and allows employers to offer their employees monthly passes that they can use at the gym for free entry into different fitness centers. There are three memberships that vary in price and facility offerings.
Benefits for Employers
Gympass uses practical, common-sensible approaches to workplace fitness.
It realizes that businesses require an ROI and that they must provide incentives for their employees to participate in physical activity outside of their normal working hours.
Gympass‘ unique enterprise benefits help companies by addressing their well-being needs, while at the same time assisting them in maintaining a competitive advantage in their respective industries, saving them costs and also motivating employees to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle.
Benefits for Employees
Gympass was founded in 2012 with a mission to bring fitness to everyone at an incredibly low price through strategic partnership deals.
With the Gympass mobile application and website, gymgoers can locate gyms near them that provide different types of workouts.
You can book your favorite exercise classes and activity such as yoga, dancing, biking, aqua-fitness, pilates, strength training, and many others both on the desktop and mobile phone.
Once logged into the app, you can see which deals are available for you at any given time.
Benefits for Fitness Partners
Gympass is a digital gym membership service for people who want to exercise at gyms and health clubs.
It integrates the online portal and mobile app to provide a unique experience for its end-user base. Gympass members get access to thousands of gyms across the U.S. and other major geographies.
The Man Behind GymPass: Cesar Carvalho
Inspired by his own experience as a stressed-out business consultant who wanted to spend more time at home with his family, Cesar Carvalhó created Gympass as an online tool to help busy professionals achieve their goals.
He joined Harvard University as a member of its professional advancement program. Gympass was the result of his dedication to maintaining a healthy fitness routine amid his busy work schedule.
Initially, the company started out as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business, but later switched gears and became a business-to-business (B2B) organization. PwC was one of the first companies to sign up for the service.
This was a lucky turn in the GymPass startup journey. It gave them access to an entirely new market segment, which resulted in a huge influx of new customers. Ultimately, this led to a $220 million Series C funding round at a $1.8 billion value, as of 2020.
They were able to get funding by promising investors that they would expand their business and grow their user base. And they did!
Carvalho believes in technology and wants to help people stay healthy by providing them with the right resources.
Since then, GymPas has expanded its services to include more locations throughout the United States and several Latin American countries.
How Does GymPass Make Money?
Gympass, the Brazilian business-to-business (B2B) company that offers discounts at gyms, now has an agreement with companies that allow them to offer discounts to their employees through its mobile app.
It provides them with unlimited access to a global community of wellness professionals, fitness centers, yoga classes, meditation rooms, and health apps like Calm, for a discount of up to 70%.
There are four main sections to the app: Physical Health, Emotional Health, Nutrition, and Sleep.
Gympass has three types of membership plans for people who want to use their gym memberships at different locations.
The starter package is available for $9.99 per month, with an unlimited number of visits to 800 facilities; the second tier of memberships is priced at $79.99 per montum and includes 7500+ facilities; the gold package is offered at $139.99 monthly and provides premium benefits to 7000+ health clubs.
It’s especially helpful when traveling because it allows them to stay fit even if they aren’t able to exercise at home.
This service provides 24/7 accessibility and doesn’t charge penalties for cancellations, so things stay flexible.
The main sources of revenue for the business include its impressive client list which includes some of the largest companies in the world and some of the most well-known industries.
Keeping up With the Times
The UK has been hit by a severe economic downturn due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Gympass recognized the need for physical activity, so they decided to address the issue by creating their own wellness collection.
Their business model is to provide members of their client base with both the staff and the ability to work out in small group settings. The app allows HR professionals to provide wellness solutions for their entire workforce.
The company reported significant monthly check-ins for April 2020, when compared to March 2020. It went on to report even greater numbers for May 2020, which were significantly higher than previous months.
The use of the Gympass mobile application in the U.S. has increased by more than two times since its launch in March of last year in 12 key markets.
With more than 50,000 partner locations worldwide, including more than 15 leading health clubs, gyms, and studios, Fitbit has grown into one of the world’s largest and most trusted wearable technology companies.
Mr. Porter, the CEO of GymPass, spoke at length about the new fitness packages recently introduced by the gym chain in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and the limited social interactions.
New digital services provide a range of benefits to both companies and their employees after the coronavirus crisis.
Virtual therapy helps employees improve their overall wellness by addressing physical fitness, nutrition, and sleep, and streaming live classes and one-to-one personal training tailored to each individual’s needs.
Operations, Funding & Expansion
GymPass has developed its own tools to track and monitor each user in the gym network. Initially, these were focused on consumer behavior, corporate contractual arrangements, financial accounting, and operational management.
The company utilizes AI, algorithms, and big data to drive insight into customer and corporate behavior
Gympass has hired an experienced management team that has helped them grow their business by leading large companies to success. They’ve done so by hiring people who know how to lead and manage large teams.
Gympass is an online community for people who want to get fit together. It allows them to track their progress, connect with friends, and share tips and advice.
A $300 million funding raise in June 2018 has increased Gympass’ global reach to $1 billion.
After the pandemic, the business saw an unprecedented surge in demand for its services due to the fact that it offered unique solutions that helped people stay healthy.
On June 20, 2020, SoftBank and other notable conglomerations including General Atlantic, Moore Strategic Venture, Kaszek, and Valor Capital Group invested $220 million in Series EEVF for its mission to improve well-being on a global scale.
This raised the fitness technology startup’s valuation from $1.5 billion to $2.2 million, and the funds were used to expand the company into new markets and improve its existing products.
As well, with increasing healthcare expenses, patrons are increasingly looking for alternative ways to pay for fitness programs.
Gympass uses this business model by offering its users a convenient way to go to gyms across major U.S. metropolitan areas by leveraging local and national partnerships that allow them to offer discounted gym membership prices at their partners’ locations.
GymPass Competitors
It’s really a good deal.
With this app, you can easily connect with thousands of local gyms and exercise studios in the United States and Canada. You’ll be able to get started right away.
After all, no matter how much money you have, it’ll be hard to work out if they are not accessible.
However, there are plenty of fitness apps available that can also help you keep fit.
ClassPass
ClassPass works on an online subscription model.
Located in the U.S., ClassPass provides companies a way to give their workers discounts on gym memberships by offering them credits for using its app instead of paying cash.
Peer Fit
PeerFit is a new way for people to get fit by attending group exercise classes at local studios.
FitPrime
FitPrime is a platform where users can find and book classes at different gyms.
Classes are offered on a subscription-based schedule, ensuring that studios always have full enrollment and helping students save money. They offer their app for both iOS and Android devices.
Urban Sports Club
Urban Sports Club is an app for searching and reserving activities at venues across the country. It offers a variety of activities, from yoga to sports coaching and training, and even more.
GymPass Customers
Gympass is an up-to-date service for people looking for a healthy way to get fit at their workplace.
Under a modern business plan, companies encourage gyms, fitness studios, and personal training sessions in order to attract new members and retain existing ones at affordable rates.
80 percent of the fitness centers in São Paulo are Gympass memberships. These memberships are used by companies such as Unilever, P&G, Deloitte, EY, Rolls Royce, and Tesco, among others.
Conclusion: How Does Gympass Make Money?
Selling gym memberships is difficult because there are so many gyms out there. However, GymPass has been able to use its branding and word-of-mouth marketing tactics to succeed in this business.
It has demonstrated its potential and has grown into one of the most popular health and wellness communities in both South America and the United States.
With the exception of ClassPass, most startups in this category appear to be lacking in solid fundamentals. However, gym pass seems to have stronger fundamentals than most of its competitors.
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